Title: Kind Eyes and a Forced Smile
Rating: T
Disclaimer: The Mentalist is owned by CBS and it's affiliates. I am not CBS and I am not any of its affiliates. So no, I don't own The Mentalist.
Summary: Did she finally decide to bring me that blueberry muffin that I have been asking for?
*Spoilers* - This idea came from 4x01. So, if you have not seen 4x01 – don't read.
He sat in his cell and the hours trudged by. He had always hated to be bored, but he really had no choice in the matter. Even if he had distractions, he wouldn't have done much besides think. He would travel deep within his own mind and replay all of the events with Lisbon, with the team, with Grace – everything.
Both Lisbon and Grace had been through a series of traumatic events all within the past few days. While he knew that Lisbon would eventually heal, he had not been too sure about Grace. Lisbon had been hurt physically, but Grace had been hurt emotionally. She had been betrayed in the worst way possible. Events that would, most likely, haunt her forever. He bowed his head and stared at the floor, which had been coated in a thin layer of dirt. Prison had not been the cleanest place to be.
He heard the sound of heavy footsteps coming down the hallway of his cellblock. He didn't think much of it. The guard would come by every few hours to check-in on the inmates for behavior purposes. He then heard the footsteps stop and he looked up. The guard was standing before him, outside the cell, staring. Jane read the nametag on the guard's uniform. It read, "Larry".
"Hello Larry." Jane greeted the man in monotone. The guard just grunted and took out the rusted cell keys.
"Where are we going today, my good man?" Jane asked still monotone, but also with a touch of curiosity. The guard just stared him down.
"You've got a visitor." The guard replied, grumbling under his breath.
It must be Lisbon, he thought. Did she finally decide to bring me that blueberry muffin that I've been asking for? Jane chuckled to himself softly. Lisbon had always disregarded him when he had asked for a muffin. The one time she had brought one, she had brought him cranberry. He had ended up giving it to his cellmate that evening.
The guard took him by the arm and brought him down to the visitor's area and sat him down in an open table. "Wait here." The guard ordered and Jane just nodded in reply. He had no idea where he could possibly go, but apparently Larry felt it necessary to give him the command. "The pretty lady will be in here shortly. She just has to go through security."
Jane smiled. Lisbon hated to be called a "lady." She was a cop after all. The one time a local officer had called her a "little lady" she had almost bitten off the man's head. Jane just looked down at his hands, waited, and whistled quietly. No matter what situation he could possibly get himself into, patience had never been his strong point.
"Go on in." Jane heard the guard order. Jane looked up and was shocked not to see Lisbon, but Grace. She had been the last person he had expected to find sitting across from him, but he had to admit, it was a nice change. Given the fact all Lisbon had done while she had visited was tell him that he could be put to death. That hadn't been so cheery. Also the fact that she had forgotten his muffin, the visit hadn't gone as well as he had hoped.
Grace sat down across from him and gave him a forced smile. Grace, he thought, she could never be negative. It had been the one thing that Jane had always admired about Grace. The fact that she always had a positive attitude about life and love, even with the most heinous ofmurders and crimes she kept her chin up and a smile on her face. Although, however much Grace could smile, he had always seen that somewhere deep inside she was hurting. Even now as she sat across from him, he could see that she was hurting. Not that he blamed her really. Even though he hadn't been there, he had heard the shots ring out. He would never understand how hard it must've been for Grace to shoot the man she had loved and had planned on marrying.
Jane looked at her and smiled. Grace had kind eyes. That had been the first thing he had noticed about Grace - her eyes. He knew that Grace had her secrets; she had always been extremely guarded and private, but even with that guarded past he knew that she could, one day, achieve great things, even if she didn't think that about herself.
"Hi Jane." Grace greeted him. "How are you?" He heard in her tone and saw in her face that it had been hard for to even think of what to say to him. He understood that. What he had done had been hard for even Lisbon to talk about.
"Oh you know," he started, "the jumpsuit they gave me is a little tight, but other than that, I've been pretty dandy. How about you, Grace?" He watched as Grace narrowed her eyes and shook her head. She then gave a small laugh, which, not that he would ever tell her, had made his day a little brighter than it had been a few hours ago.
"I'm hanging in there. It's a day-by-day process. Similar to you." Grace replied. Jane thought about that for a minute. Now that Grace had shot O'Laughlin, they were very similar. He had been dealing with the death of his wife and daughter for eight years. She would now be dealing with the death of O'Laughlin, for who knew how long. "Lisbon thinks I should go to the CBI therapist."
Jane waved her off and chuckled slightly. "Remember what happened when Lisbon went to the therapist? That wasn't such a great idea, Grace." Grace merely laughed at him. He had been sure she would remember what had happened that week.
"I'm going to go for one session and see what it does, but I will remember that you said that, Jane." Grace replied as he noticed her trying to hold back her laughter. He felt her touch his hand and watched as she bent over to pick something up from off of the floor. Now he had to know what she was up to. He never knew Grace could be so sneaky. He kind of admired and liked it; he had to admit, to himself of course. She brought up a brown paper bag and placed it in front of him.
He looked at her with suspicious eyes and she just motioned for him to open it. He did, and then he smiled at her and at the contents of the bag. It held his long awaited blueberry muffin.
"Grace," he said sweetly, "thank you. Lisbon has been denying me a muffin for days. This was very sweet of you."
"Any time, Jane. I thought you could use something that would brighten your day."
Little did she know that she had brightened his day in more ways than one, but he just continued to smile brightly at her.